Nearly
four months after the Albany Civic Agenda’s proposal to put
charter reform on this November’s ballot [“No More Power to
You,” Newsfront, Sept. 15] was voted down 9 to 6 by the Albany
Common Council, Mayor Jennings’s Charter Review Commission
held its last official public meeting.

Back on Sept. 8, Judge Larry Rosen, head of the charter commission,
addressed the Common Council, warning members that voting
to put the ACA’s charter reform on the ballot would “set a
dangerous precedent” and explaining that his review commission
would utilize “multiple public hearings” and “public education.”
He concluded, “It is my belief that such input, debate and
public education has sadly not been part of the process.”
Other opponents of the ACA’s charter reform repeatedly referred
to the proposals as “a backroom deal.”

The ACA’s Paul Bray, however, said that not much can get more
backroom than the way this Tuesday’s meeting was conducted.
Bray noted that although public comment was advertised for
the meeting, none was allowed. “There was no public comment
last night and copies of what they presented were not available
for anybody who showed up,” said Bray. “They said, ‘Well,
we have had two public hearings.’ After their meetings they
would have this ‘OK, well, if you have something to say’ [comment
period], sort of very begrudgingly, sort of ‘try to keep this
short and keep it on what we said.’ ”

On the other hand, Bray said, “The citizens’ petition. . .
. We got 3,600 signatures, we held press conferences, had
meetings, discussed it with a wide range of people, and there
was a lot of press coverage. It was a very public process,
and this was the opposite.”

On Tuesday, sitting in leather chairs at a polished conference
table and surrounded by representatives from Albany Law School,
the 13-member commission decided, with little debate, on four
amendments to the city’s charter.

One reform put forth by commission member Councilman Daniel
Herring (Ward 13) and passed unanimously would give the Common
Council approval over 10 mayor-nominated department heads.
Such “advise and consent” was one of the two main proposals
supported by the ACA.

Two other amendments were easily approved, including a proposal
by Comptroller Tom Nitido that calls for a periodic review
by the Common Council and the comptroller of the appropriate
city debt level, and an amendment that would require elected
officials such as the comptroller and the treasurer to name
a backup in case they are temporarily unable to perform their
duties.

The only amendment that met with any kind of resistance had
to do with the Board of Estimate and Apportionment. The BEA
is made up of three mayor-appointed members. It controls spending
of up to $5 million outside of the city budget. Under the
amendment, the makeup of the board would be changed to the
city treasurer, the comptroller, the corporation counsel and
the Common Council president. Commissioner Councilman Richard
Conti (Ward 6) voiced his disapproval of the amendment, saying,
“This does nothing to give the council more say in financial
policy.”

The ACA’s proposal had been to give the Common Council three
seats on the board and the mayor two.

Before the vote was held, Judge Rosen informed the commission
that the final report on their findings would include a minority
report in which members could voice their opinions about amendments
and changes. He assured Conti that he was not announcing this
to sway his vote for the BEA amendment. When the roll was
called on that amendment, Conti simply voted “present.” Everyone
else voted for the amendment.

The only real debate of the night came when Rosen reminded
the commission that they would have to decide how the amendments
will be presented on the ballot this coming November.

Rosen said he felt the amendments were all “inherently linked”
and should be presented as a package on the ballot. Conti
quickly asserted that the amendments should be voted on separately.
This time Conti found he had a number of supporters. Said
Councilman James Sano (Ward 9), “I’d like to see the citizens
be able to vote on the amendments as we are tonight.”

Councilwoman Sandra Fox (Ward 15) countered, “The people are
gonna be in there for an hour and a half!”

If the amendments were presented together and voted down over
one item, noted Commmisioner John Yanas, “We could lose everything.”

Bray thinks that is precisely the intention of the members
who want the amendments presented as a package. “My inclination
is, [they think] if they group it, that’s a way of killing
advise and consent, so no reform comes out of this. I think
the Board of E and A amendment is like a rotten fish: You
wrap three things with it and they will all go down.”

The commission will meet one last time after the holidays
to decide how the amendments will be presented on the ballot.
The commission will then have the better part of the New Year
to educate Albany’s citizens as to what reforms they propose
and why they should (or should not) vote for them.

—David
King

dking@metroland.net

What
a Week

Keeping
tabs on the dissenters

The local chapters of Campus Action and Campus
Greens are not plotting to illegally overthrow
the government of the United States; you probably
didn’t need us to tell you that. However, a memo
obtained by NBC News revealed that the Department
of Defense thought it better check for itself:
The DOD has been spying on numerous activist groups
around the country. Although some activists were
troubled by this, others, including some Campus
Greens, took it to mean that they must be “doing
something right.”

In your face, Robertson!

George W. Bush-appointed U.S. District Judge John
Jones has barred the teaching of “intelligent
design” as an evolution alternative in Dover,
Pa. schools. Jones ruled that the school board’s
policy violated a constitutional ban on teaching
religion in public schools. “Any asserted secular
purposes by the board are a sham and are merely
secondary to a religious objective,” he said.
Pat Robertson had excoriated the town of Dover
when it voted out the board of education responsible
for the “intelligent design” policy.

Safeguarding our civil liberties?

There seems to be a disconnect between politicians
and President Bush about the implications of the
wiretapping program he ordered that monitors calls
of American citizens. Three Democrats and two
Republicans sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary
Committee asking for an immediate inquiry into
the program. “We must determine the facts,” said
the letter. Bush has not been doing his usual
dodging, defending his actions vigorously: “It
has been effective in disrupting the enemy while
safeguarding our civil liberties.”

Aw, working into the holidays

Gov. Pataki called the New York Legislature back
into session last week to toughen gun-crime penalties
in the wake of the shooting deaths of two New
York City police officers. While the Conservative
Party clamored for a return of the death penalty,
and Sen. Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx) asked that special
penalties for those who kill police be extended
to taxi drivers, bodega owners, and the elderly,
the Assembly and Senate have remained locked in
their usual positions over the line between fighting
crime and restricting gun owners’ rights.

Overheard

Overheard:

“Delaware
Avenue’s haunted.”

“Delaware
Avenue?”

“Yeah.
Something bad happened there.”

—CDTA Route 18 bus, in the midst of a discussion
of haunted houses.

Overheard:“Question
his manhood.”

—Ralph
Nader, at a press conference Tuesday supporting
Alice Green, in response to a question about how
Green could convince Mayor Jerry Jennings to participate
in a debate.

Loose
Ends

To
the grave disappointment of the dozens of citizens
who turned out for the second Albany Common Council
meeting in a row to oppose a rezoning proposal
for Holland Avenue [“A Little Highway in the
City,” Newsfront, Dec. 8], the measure passed 8
to 5. The rezoning, which turns a lot on Holland
from office-commercial to highway-commercial to
allow a large Walgreen’s pharmacy to be built there,
had strong opposition from the surrounding neighborhoods,
as well as from the ward’s council representative,
Shawn Morris. The bill was brought to a vote over
her objections through a little-used procedural
rule. In the public comment period, Craig Waltz
of the Helderberg Neighborhood Association raised
a question of why a lame-duck council was so eager
to move on this bill in the last meeting of the
year. Outgoing council members Michael Brown (Ward
3) and Sarah Curry-Cobb (Ward 4) both had pet pieces
of legislation (community-center funding and a commuter
tax, respectively) that were missing their last
chance for air time in favor of this development
proposal, Waltz noted. Why the heavy priority on
this decision? he asked rhetorically. Brown and
Curry-Cobb both voted for the rezoning. Opposing
were Morris, Dominick Calsolero (Ward 1), Richard
Conti (Ward 6), Mike O’Brien (Ward 9) and Dave Torncello
(Ward 8). Dan Herring (Ward 11), who also opposed
the change, was not present; neither was Shirley
Foskey (Ward 5). Waltz and other neighborhood leaders
have already put in motion plans to sue on the grounds
that the change is illegal spot zoning.